Saturday, December 19, 2009

I guess that’s a good way to start a Christmas letter to everyone. When I think back over the time that’s passed since last Christmas, I have to smile—and shed a few tears, too. The generosity of strangers has touched me—us—in such a way that a simple thank you seems so trite, yet it is all I can really say.

So I guess that I should add here that we finished Christmas shopping for our boys last night. Maybe we don’t have copious amounts of stuff under the tree, but we were able to get them things that they’d really like, and I have to say that my oldest made me so proud this year. One of his school friends was really depressed one day. Apparently, his mom had told him that they might have to move. He admitted to my son that his mom had lost her job just before Christmas last year—we knew that—and that, like us, she’d had trouble paying her property taxes, so even though her house was hers, the county was going to take her house because she didn’t have the money to pay. Now, her property taxes weren’t really any worse than ours, but the problem for her is that her husband left her when her son (now nearly seventeen, the same age as my son) was a baby, and she hadn’t seen him since. Because of that, though, she’d always worked two jobs, so when she lost her main job—the one that paid the bills and kept her out of the welfare line—she only had the other. Long and short of it was that this boy’s mother was going to lose her house. So my son came to me and asked me how much I was going to spend on him for Christmas. It was kind of a weird question coming from him, so I asked him why? I mean, isn’t it the thought that counts? (Yes, I was a little irked at that point. I mean, I didn’t think I’d raised a greedy kid …)

And he looked me in the eye and he said, “Mom, Cody’s going to have to move because they can’t afford to pay their taxes, but even then, they don’t have anywhere to go. Could you give her the money you were going to spend on me for Christmas? I’d rather keep a friend than open presents on Christmas day.”

I just stared at him—just stared. I think I might’ve stared at him for close to a whole minute before my eyes filled with tears, and I grabbed him and hugged him and told him that I was so proud of him. Granted, we didn’t have a lot of money to spend on him, but since my husband’s hours had picked up somewhat, we did have some.

So I called Cody’s mom and I tried to find a good way to ask her how much she needed to come up with. Turns out that a few others had heard about it and had offered her money to help her. She was only about $150.00 short, and while we hadn’t really figured on spending that much on Christmas per kid, I couldn’t stand to see her that close to her goal and not help her.

So we skimped on groceries for a week, cut back on gas money and extra trips to town, and we gave her what she needed, and I thought, you know, isn’t that what Christmas is all about, anyway?

In the end, we were able to get my son one video game, and my youngest is always cheaper to buy for. The point is, even now, looking at our tree and seeing how few presents are under there, I still feel good because that feeling that we actually could help someone who really needed it is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and to everyone who helped us when the situation was reversed? Thank you. God bless you. May you look at your Christmas tree and smile, too.

So I got to thinking, what can I do to say a small thank you to everyone who cared, whether they could afford to help us or not, or even if they did nothing more than drop me an email to let me know that they were praying for us.

Well, I guess it’s this: I wrote a one shot. What’s different about that? Nothing, I guess. I mean, I do that every Christmas, don’t I? But that’s what I can do, isn’t it? What I do best, really. I can only hope that you all enjoy reading the story as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Look for it on Christmas Eve day, okay?

Oh, and to everyone? Thanks for bearing with me this year. Here’s hoping that 2010 is even better!